


Tethered

by thesometimeswarrior



Category: Gravity Falls
Genre: Angst, Canon Compliant, Episode: s02e11 Not What He Seems, Explicit Language, Family, Fear, Ficlet, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-30
Updated: 2020-08-30
Packaged: 2021-03-06 22:13:50
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 846
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26196199
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/thesometimeswarrior/pseuds/thesometimeswarrior
Summary: In the instant before his watch beeps, he’d mistaken the lurch in his gut, the pleading in his voice, the utter, utterdesperationthat he feels, for fear. But when the alarm goes off and the anomaly begins, when they’re all thrown into the air, all of that gives way to true terror.“Uh oh, oh no! Braceyourselves!”They all start to levitate, and for an instant it’stoofamiliar. The kids were never supposed to be this close to the portal, at least not while it was active, and if they’re allfloatingnow…what if…Ford had beensucked in…if one of thekidsgets too close…!
Relationships: Dipper Pines & Mabel Pines & Stan Pines, Ford Pines & Stan Pines, Mabel Pines & Stan Pines
Comments: 10
Kudos: 66





	Tethered

In the instant before his watch beeps, he’d mistaken the lurch in his gut, the pleading in his voice, the utter, utter _desperation_ that he feels, for fear. But when the alarm goes off and the anomaly begins, when they’re all thrown into the air, all of that gives way to true terror.

 _Fuck_. The kids.

“Uh oh, oh no! Brace _yourselves_!” 

They all start to levitate, and for an instant it’s _too_ familiar—though with Ford, admittedly, it had all been neater. When Stan had turned the portal on by accident, that time, nothing had started floating until Ford got—until he _pushed_ Ford to be—too close. But then, _Ford_ knew what he was doing, Stanley doesn’t, and he’s been groping around blind for thirty years, and it’s all about to be _worth_ it, but the kids were never supposed to be this close to the portal, at least not while it was active, and if they’re all _floating_ now…what if…Ford had been _sucked in_ …if one of the _kids_ gets too close…! 

A quick glance around, and something in Stan sighs in minute relief. They’re both tethered. Dipper to one of the wooden support beams holding the up basement, and Mabel to a cord. And with this terror set aside, the other fear, the desperation—which is no less _real_ —returns, especially as Mabel climbs down the cord toward the button, to shut down everything he has been working for for the past thirty years, the only hope he has of seeing his brother again, and if she just _understood_ what she was doing—if she just _understood_ —she wouldn’t shut down the portal, he’s sure of it. He launches himself at her, calling her name, begging her to stop, the explanation that he couldn’t quite get out this morning—he _should_ have just told them this morning, _all_ of this could have been avoided if he hadn’t been such a wimp, and had just told them this morning like he’d planned—on the tip of his tongue…

But Soos tackles him, and then _Dipper_ is on him—shit, no, Dipper should never have let go of the beam on the wall, Stan tries to hold onto to him even as he keeps him at bay, but then he yells at Mabel to press the button, and the desperation gets the better of Stan. He pushes Dipper down and lets him go, reaches frantically for Mabel, _begs_ …

(An instant later, though, Dipper reaches to hit him again. Stan grabs him, and holds firm this time.)

Mabel’s crying now. The portal pulls her tears upward, but _she_ is firmly attached to the button-stand. Her legs are wrapped around it, and it’s keeping her from getting too close. Stan lets himself relax slightly. 

She’s desperate for an excuse to trust him, and something clicks—like it does the moment he knows a customer has fallen for one of his gags and has moved from skepticism to having a good time and will likely then buy something in the gift shop—and he knows he is going to get through to her. “Then listen to me. Remember this morning when I said I wanted to tell you guys something?” 

But before he can finish, the portal’s power intensifies, sends a blast outward that pins him, Dipper, and Soos to the wall. Mabel, though, is too close. Rather than being pushed _out_ , she’s being pulled _in_. 

(Ford was pulled in, once upon a time, and how many times in the past decades has he replayed that moment in his head, screamed at himself for not just _pushing the damn button_ , and shutting the portal down?)

(Shouldn’t he _learn_ from… _Mabel_ …)

But Mabel is holding on to the button stand, it’s an anchor—like on the boat that he and Ford used to dream about as kids—and as long as she is, she’s not going anywhere. It’s too much, the possibility of seeing Ford again, he’s come so close, and Mabel loves her brother too—if she just _understood_ , she’s agree that she _shouldn’t_ shut the thing down.

So it’s decided. He takes his chance to sway her. “Look into my eyes, Mabel! You really think I’m a bad guy? Mabel _please_!”

And, while she glances back and forth between him and her brother for a moment, ultimately, she picks up what he has so desperately laid down.

“Grunkle Stan…” she says.

And then, and _then_ , she does something that—at least for that one instant—makes him regret all of it.

“I trust you,” she finishes. And to demonstrate that trust, she raises both arms, unfurls her legs from around the base of the pole, releases her hands, so that she’s no longer tethered, she begins to float upward, directly in front of the portal.

And Stan wants to yell _Stop!_ , wants to yell _Pumpkin, no, grab back on!_ But before he can—before any of these words leave his terrified lips, the countdown hits zero, and the room explodes in bright white light.

**Author's Note:**

> Hope you enjoyed! I love comments!


End file.
